Progress in Washington Schools, But Too Few Grads

Washington students are making steady progress on state tests, but too many – especially minority kids – are still failing to reach the big goal of graduating from high school on time, state education officials said Wednesday.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn announced results from state tests administered last spring. In many areas, those tests reflect improvements over time, he said.

“We have more ups than we have downs,” Dorn said. “Students are continuing to make progress.”

In Tacoma, most grade levels improved reading and math scores by at least as many points as statewide averages, especially in the middle grades. The exceptions were the youngest tested Tacoma readers – third-graders, who dropped 7 percentage points from the previous year – and the oldest readers – 10th graders, who fell by 3 points. Statewide, third-grade reading dropped by 4 points and 10th grade reading by nearly 2 points.